What happened?

On April Fool's Day, 2008, Steve came home from work. Marian didn't feel well. She had a horrible headache and her neck hurt. Steve took over with the kids, then went to check on Marian, who felt a little better.

"An hour later," Steve said. "I heard her call out to me - 'Steve!' - in the strangest voice. It was so urgent."

Marian thought she was having a stroke. "My right side is numb, my hand is numb and I can't see," she told him. Her pupils were unevenly dilated. Steve called 911. By the time the ambulance arrived, she was vomiting. Marian was rushed to Citrus Memorial Hospital where a CT scan revealed a subarachnoid hemorrhage.

She was transferred to Tampa General Hospital. Over the next few weeks, Marian suffered 3 additional hemhorrages and Steve was told more than once she likely wouldn't survive. At one point "the doctors were telling me she was brain dead and that I had to think about organ donation," Steve said. Time and time again, however, Marian rallied.

Doctors were surprised that she began to show signs of life, and was, again, responding to stimulation. What doctors saw on CT scans of her brain was better than they expected. Doctors told Steve that there was a chance she could make significant recovery with 18 or more months of intensive therapy and rehabilitation.

"We had hope," he said simply.